North Alabama has become a power center for Republicans, and McCutcheon has emerged as one of the GOP’s top leaders up there.

He was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 2006. In less than two complete terms, he’s risen to become Chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee, the panel that decides which bills make it onto the House calendar each day. McCutcheon has enormous influence over what pieces of legislation actually make it to the floor for a vote. That means he’s constantly being hounded by legislators, lobbyists, advocacy groups, trade associations, and just about everyone else with an issue they want the legislature to address.

McCutcheon does a great job bridging the gap between veteran legislators and the freshman class, and he’s gotten high marks across party lines for how evenhanded his approach to the Rules Committee has been.